Human Sexuality Sexual affectional Orientation & Diversity WEEK 4 ( Lecture Notes) PDF

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This course focuses on issues regarding sexuality...

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Human Sexuality (LECTURE NOTES) SEXUAL AFFECTIONAL ORIENTATION & DIVERSITY Affectional or Romantic Orientation 

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Sexual orientation is now identified as Affectional or Romantic Orientation o sex or gender with which a person is most likely to have a romantic relationship or fall in love with The term homosexual entered the English language in 1869 The term homosexual was not so much about doing a behaviour, but about being a certain type of person

Identity Labels 

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Labels are social constructions that include o information about sexual/romantic preference, o certain self-perceptions (“I am lesbian”), o worldviews (political support for female solidarity, etc.) Terms such as gay, queer, and heterosexual are more accurately used as adjectives than nouns o they refer to an identity and not an individual’s “essence”

Asexuality   

Asexual individuals may fall in love romantically with another person without feeling sexual desire for her or him May have a masturbation frequency that falls in the normal range May or may not acquire an asexual identity

Prejudice against Same-Sex Oriented Individuals  

Upper classes were more positive about homosexual love, but the majority of citizens were not Conversion Therapy o “Pray away the gay” o Reparative therapy highly contested o There is no proven method to change someone’s sexual orientation

Theories of Affectional Orientation and Sexual Identity Development 

Affectional orientation has many aspects, including sexual attraction, sexual fantasies, and sexual preference

Psychosocial Explanations   

Most gay and lesbian individuals were raised by heterosexual parents, and most children of same-sex parents are heterosexual There is no evidence that trauma (such as early sexual abuse) affects sexual orientation A change in Affectional orientation appears to be more fluid in females

Sexual Identity Development 

Ecological theory based on how people interact with their environment o E.g. model recognises that identity formation and disclosure will be quite different for a white atheist male raised in Laguna California, USA and a practicing Muslim male from Lebanon.

Self-Identification and Identity Disclosure   

Some individuals may have internalized homophobia that blocks such healthy selfacceptance Process of accepting oneself and a particular sexual identity label Some LGBTQ individuals have good reason to not disclose: o anticipated negative family reaction o fear discrimination and social stigma

Intimate Relationships  

Research reports that lesbian couples report greater relationship satisfaction than either gay or heterosexual couples Non-monogamous gay couples are as happy as monogamous gay couples

Bisexuality and Relationships     

Freud believed we are all born bisexual There has never been a society where the number of same-sex relationships equal that of mixed-sex relationships Most bisexual people have a history of heterosexual relationships before they have samesex interests Some bisexual people are monogamous, others have multiple partners Relatively small number of individuals identify as bisexual – may suffer from being seen as “fence-sitters”

Same-Sex Sexual Behaviour     

Gay men in relationships report the most sex, lesbian couples have the least, and mixed couples fall in between Gay males have 42.8 partners on average in a lifetime, heterosexual males have 16.5, lesbian women 9.4, and heterosexual women 4.6 Typical order of sexual activities for boys who have sex with other boys: oral sex, anal sex, anilingus, and anal dildo penetration Typical order of sexual activities for men who have sex with other men: mutual masturbation, oral sex, and anal intercourse Most common sexual activities for women who have sex with other women include oral sex, vaginal–digital penetration, and mutual masturbation

Coming Out as a Process         

Uncertainty Fear Isolation Alienation Denial Identity Acceptance Homophobia Loss Connection...